Previews

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

With a set of tight intuitive controls, Dante's big whopping sword -- Rebellion -- and dual pistols -- aptly named Ebony and Ivory -- are his initial tools of the trade. He's once again able to string large, nonstop chained attacks together, which in turn rack up the style points. New moves and techniques are revealed as the game gets going and include the floaty air-gun attack, double jumping off of flat surfaces, and of course, a slew of sweet juggling multi-hitting sword / gun combo attacks.
A decent enemy targeting system and the new quick-access gun cycling button enable the player to keep the action moving at a blistering speed. Some of the more advance moves and techniques require adept timing and button manipulation, so there's a good learning curve there for those hardcore guys and gals that want to hit the perfect "S" rating for each level.
The combo ranking system has gone through a pretty big overhaul this time around, and now simply repeating the same handful of moves will be a negative strike in terms of the amount of style points you accrue during a fight. But one of the coolest additions to the game has to be the customization options that present themselves at the beginning of each level.

Here's that floaty air gun attack I mentioned.

In the version I played, I was able to select from either Trickster, Swordmaster, or Gunslinger. Trickster lays down some new moves that allow Dante to avoid more attacks than usual from enemies. Swordmaster provides more specialized moves for each sword found in the game, while the other Gunslinger option gives more mastery of the various firearms. This option is a really nice addition and will certainly add a new level of replayability to the game as a whole.
Aside from the trademark tongue-in-cheek humor and crazy Mikami-influenced coolness, Devil May Cry 3 is shaping up to offer fans of the series the most balanced and playable incarnation of Dante's adventure to date. The rocking soundtrack and slick visuals coupled with the increased challenge and excellent controls shouldn't really fall flat at any level.
GameSpy will be back in the New Year with some more updated impressions, along with more movies and more on the sinister plotline of the game. Devil May Cry 3 might just be the coolest action title currently in development for the PS2, but only March 2005 will reveal the final verdict.